A REVISED plan to breathe new life into the Horsefair area of Kidderminster has been welcomed after a public outcry against the original proposals.

Residents packed a public meeting last December in protest at a plan to redevelop the "Horsefair triangle" which involved knocking down the Horsefair Community Centre and building two large retail units.

Planning officers went back to square one and produced a new set of proposals for the land - bounded by Stourbridge Road, Queen Street, Broad Street and Horsefair - which have now been given the green light by Wyre Forest District Council's planning (development control) committee.

Thirty-nine houses are to be built on the site, while the listed Weavers' Cottages will be retained, renovated and extended for residential use.

The community centre, where the public meeting was held, will also be kept under the new plans while parking and a play area will be provided.

The amended plans have attracted only three letters from neighbours on car parking issues, as opposed to "very substantial opposition to original plans", said Wyre Forest District Council's head of planning and environment Jake Berriman.

"The revised scheme is quite simply far more satisfactory than the original or previously withdrawn proposals," he added.

He said the scheme would contribute to the regeneration of the Horsefair area which is "a key aspiration of the council".

Ward councillor David Gourley said the area had been a "blot on the landscape for a very long time" and he was pleased at the retention of the community centre.

"It will be good to see the area developed and people back living there," he added.

Fellow ward councillor Ken Stokes also warmly welcomed the scheme, stating the Horsefair was in "a terrible mess".

"This application is the closest we can get to the needs of the people concerned," he added.